Firing-gear of ordnance.



A. T. DAWSON & G. T. BUCKHAM.

FIRING GEAR OF ORDNANGE.

APPLICATION FILED 111111.20, 1909.

994,983, Patented June 13, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

1n: NORRIS PETERS co., wnsumcrau, n. c.

A. T. DAWSON & G. T. BUOKHAM.

FIRING GEAR 0F ORDNANCE.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR. 20, 1909.

Patented June 13, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

1n: NDRRIS PETERS co. WASHINGTON, o. c.

s'rn

ARTHUR TREVOR DAWSON AND GEORGE THOMAS BUCKHAM, OF WESTMINSTER,

LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNORS TO VICKERS SONS & MAXIM LIMITED, 015 WEST-MINSTER, ENGLAND.

FIRING-GEAR OF ORDNANCE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 13, 1911.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ARTHUR TREVOR DAwsoN and GEORGE THOMAS BUCKHAM,both subjects of the King of Great Britain, residing at 82 Victoriastreet, Westminster, in the county of London, England, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in and Relating to the Firing-Gearof Ordnance, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to firing gear of the kind in which there is atthe breech end of the gun a firing plunger which operates through afiring lever and tripping cam and other appropriate mechanism to releasethe firing pin or striker mounted in the usual manner in a sliding lockcasing carried by a box slide attached to the axial vent. The firingplunger is released by the pulling of the usual trigger and is cocked bythe angular movement of the breech screw in opening the breech, throughthe intervention of a cooking cam on the said breech screw.

The chief object of our present invention is to so construct and arrangethe aforesaid firing plunger that it will perform the double function ofreleasing the firing pin or striker, through suitable intervening parts,and of retaining the breech screw against the breech face when theswinging carrier is slammed in closing the breech; it thereforeconstitutes a combined firing plunger and rebound catch.

In order that our said invention may be clearly understood and readilycarried into effect, we will describe the same more fully with referenceto the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is an elevation of aportion of the breech end of a gun showing our improved mechanismapplied thereto. Fig. 2 is a side elevation as seen from the left ofFig. 1. Fig. 3 is a'sectional plan taken approximately through thecenter of the combined firing plunger and rebound catch. Fig. 4 is asectional elevation taken on the line 1. l. of Fig. 3, with the firinggear removed. Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8 are fragmentary sectional plansshowing the firing lever and the tripping cam 1n various positions; Fig.5 representing the parts in the position they occupy when the carrier isslammed in closing the breech and prior to the locking movement of thebreech screw; Fig. 6 when the firing plunger is being retracted orcocked; Fig. 7 when the firing plunger has been liberated from itscocked position and is advancing with its tripping cam in the act ofoperating the firing lever for firing the gun; and Fig. 8 when thefiring plunger has fully advanced and its tripping cam has released thefiring lever and resumed its normal position after the firing has takenplace.

Like letters of reference indicate similar parts in all the figures.

A is the breech end of the gun.

B is the flange of the breech screw to which the cooking cam B isaffixed.

C is the swinging carrier.

D is the sliding lock casing and D the box slide in which said lockcasing moves in the well known manner. The said lock casing is providedwith the usual striker which is actuated by the trigger-sear Dcontrolled by the trigger D the said trigger being mounted on the axispin of the trigger lever D which, when the lock casing is in the firingposition, lies with its free end contiguous to the inner end of thespring push rod D carried by the box slide.

E is the firing plunger which is mounted to slide in a bracket F securedto the rear face of the gun. The said bracket also carries the plungersear F (Fig. 4) for retaining the firing plunger retracted or cocked; italso carries a rod G for actuating the Sear F to release the firingplunger as hereinafter explained. The firing plunger is made hollow toreceive the tripping cam E and the actuating spring 0 whose outer end issurrounded by and abuts against a movable end cap 6 which is re tainedin place by the plunger sear F. The said tripping cam E is pivotallymounted on an axis pin 6 carried by the firing plunger and near itspivot it has a shoulder c against which a loose plug 6 bears under theinfluence of the spring 6. The plunger sear F is mounted on an axis pinf carried by the bracket F and it has three arms or projections f f f(Fig. 4:) of which one (f) has a hooked extremity to engage with acorresponding notch or recess 6 in the under side of the firing plunger,another (7) engaging with a shoulder in the actuating rod G, and theother (f engaging at its forward part with the said movable end cap 6and at its rear part with a stop or shoulder f on the bracket F. It willtherefore be seen that the sear F is constantly subject to the influenceof the spring 6 which tends to keep it in the cocking positionrepresented in Fig. 4 and that the projection f of the sear, by bearingagainst the said stop 7, prevents the movable end cap 0 from beingpushed out of its proper position in the bracket F by the said spring.The outer end of the firing plunger is formed with a loo-p or eye E forenabling it to be re-cocked by hand when required.

The actuating rod G. is mounted on the lower part of the bracket F andto facilitate the assembling of the parts, it is interrupted or recessedat 9 (Fig. 4). The forward end 9 of this rod normally projects intoaposition to engage with the flange B of the breech screw when thelatter, together with itscarrier C, is swung to or from the breech face.The other end of said actuating rod engages with the releasing lever Hwhich is pivoted at h to the bracket F (Fig. 3) and is operated by alever (not, shown in the drawings) on a non-recoiling part of themounting, the said lever being under the control of the usual trigger orother form of mechanism used for firing the gun. The, said releasinglever H is shown with a forked extension to engage with a stud 9 on theactuating rod G.

I is the firing lever which is pivotally mounted at 2' in an extensionof the swinging carier C. One extremity or arm 2" of the firing lever isadapted to engage with. the notched portion 6 of the tripping cam. E andthe other, which may be fitted with a roller 2' is adapted to engagewith the said push rod D on the box slide. The said firing lever isfitted with a flat spring i for returning it to the normal positionafter firing. Near its axis and on either side of the same. areprojections i and i which come into engagement with the lug B of thebreech screw when the latter is in the unlocked position only.

The action of the firing gear is as follows :.During the angularmovement of the breech screw in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 4 tounlock the breech, the firing plunger E is forced outward from thedotted position shown in that figure, against the resistance of itsspring a, by means of the cooking cam B on the breech screw acting uponthe nose of the said plunger. The extent of this outward movement issufficient to enable the notch c in the said plunger to that the innerextremity g of this rod lies in the path of the breech screw flange Bwhen the carrier C is swung outward to open the breech. The firing leverI, which as aforesaid is pivotally mounted in the carrier, is movedslightly outward or to the rear about its pivot 73 during the unlockingof the breech screw, by means of a beveled surface 6 on the lug B on thebreech screw, en-

gaging with the projection i on the firing :lever, while the otherprojection 2 on the said firing lever, by coming into contact with theunbeveled portion of the said breech screwlug 'lever shall be heldstationary on its pivot. 3 and prevented from performing anyfurther Binsures that the said firing rotary movement during the outward andlnward movement of the swlnging carrier.

, By the aforesaid small movement of the fir- 3 ing lever, the end 2"thereof that lies adja- 5 cent to the tripping cam E, is withdrawn fromengagement therewith (see Fig. IAs the breech screw swings out inopening 'the breech, the flange Bof the said screw comes into contactwith the end 9 .of the V actuating rod G, thereby forcing it outward andtripping the plunger sear F so that the hooked arm 7 thereof isliberated from the firing plunger. The firing plunger is thus releasedand moved inward again under the influence of its spring 6, its noselying in a position in front of the flange B of the breech screw, so asto be acted upon by said flange when the carrier is again swung innotche of the firing plunger E. The flange B of the breech screw at the sametime engages with the nose of the firing plunger E, thereby forcing thelatter outward to a suflicient extent to pass it, so that directly theflange B passes the firing plunger, the latter. immediately flies inwardunder the action of its spring, thus preventing the carrier fromreboundingv and retaining the breech screw in such position that itsthreads can freely engage with those of the gun. The breech screw isthen locked by the usual angular movement thereof, whereby the cookingcam Bis caused to act upon the nose of the firing plunger and push theplunger outward far enough toelfect the reengagement of its notch 6 withthe hooked arm 7 of the sear F. At the same time the lug B on the breechscrew moves away from the projections 2' 2 on the firing lever I so asto render it free to move about its axis pin. The firing gear is then inthe cooked position (Fig. 3) and can be liberated by pressing inward thereleasing lever H through the aforesaid trigger mechanism in theordinary manner. This inward movement of the releasing lever retractsthe actuating rod G and causes its shoulder g to act upon the arm 7 ofthe plunger sear; thus removing the hooked arm f of said sear fromengagement with the firing plunger and permitting the latter to flyinward. This inward movement or the firing plunger causes the trippingcam E, by coming into engagement with the end i of the firing lever I,to turn about its axis pin 6 from the position shown in Fig. 3 to thatshown in Fig. 7 (and subsequently to that shown in Fig. 8) whereby thefiring lever I is actuated.

To re-cock the gear by hand when necessary, the re-cocking loop E ispulled sufficiently far toward the left for the plunger sear F to engagewith the firing plunger, the lock being of course re-cocked beforefiring. During re-cocking the tripping cam E does not actuate the firinglever I but itself moves about its axis pin a as shown in Fig. 6.

The above described firing gear possesses the advantages that theassembling of the parts can be efiected with great facility; all thesprings in the arrangement are in the initial condition when themechanism is in its normal position, thereby freeing them from unduestress; the firing lever is rendered immovable during the slamming ofthe swinging carrier; and the re-cocking of the firing plunger iseffected without disturbing the firing lever, thereby obviating anydanger of premature firing.

\Vhat we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is 1. In firing gear for breech loading guns, the combinationwith the firing plunger, of means whereby the said plunger retains thebreech screw against the breech face when the swinging carrier isslammed in closing the breech.

2. In firing gear for breech loading guns, the combination with a firingplunger, and means whereby said plunger operates to release the firingpin or striker, of means whereby said plunger is retracted withoutbecoming cocked when the swinging carrier is slammed in closing thebreech, means whereby said plunger is retracted and also cocked by theangular displacement of the breech screw, and means for enabling saidplunger to be released from its cocked position.

3. In firing gear for breech loading guns, the combination with a firingplunger and means whereby said plunger operates to release the firingpin or striker, of a plunger sear, means whereby said sear is moved intoan inoperative position relatively to the plunger when the latter isretracted by the swinging carrier in closing the breech, means wherebysaid firing plunger is cocked by the angular displacement of the breechscrew, and means whereby said plunger sear is moved into its inoperativeposit-ion for releasing the firing plunger.

4. In firing gear for breech loading guns, the combination with a firingplunger and means whereby said plunger operates to release the firingpin or striker, of a plunger sear, an actuating rod for said sear, meanswhereby both the firing plunger and the sear actuating rod are operatedsimultaneously by the swinging carrier in closing the breech, meanswhereby the said plunger is cocked by the angular displacement of thebreech screw and means whereby the said sear actuating rod can beoperated independently of the firing plunger.

5. In firing gear for breech loading guns, the combination with thefiring plunger, of a tripping cam, a firing lever pivoted to theswinging carrier and adapted to be actuated by said tripping cam, meanswhereby said firing lever operates to release the firing pin or striker,a plunger sear, an actuating rod for said sear, means for operating saidactuating rod and firing plunger together when the swinging carrier isslammed to its closed position, means for cooking said firing plungcrwhen the breech screw is angularly displaced, and means whereby saidfiring lever is held stationary during the inward and outward swingingmotion of the carrier.

6. In firing gear for breech loading guns, the combination with thefiring plunger, of a tripping cam, a firing lever pivoted to theswinging carrier and adapted to be actuated by said tripping cam, meanswhereby said firing lever operates to release the firing pin or striker,a plunger sear, a spring controlling the firing plunger, the trippingcam and the plunger sear, an actuating rod for said sear, means foroperating said actuating rod and firing plunger together when theswinging carrier is slammed to its closed position, means for cockingsaid firing plunger when the breech screw is angularly displaced, andmeans whereby said firing lever is held stationary during the inward andoutward swinging motion of the carrier.

In testimony whereof we afiiX our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

ARTHUR TREVOR DAWSON. GEORGE THOMAS BUCKHAM.

Vitnesses: s i HENRY KING, ALFRED PEAKS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

